Far North Queensland Chinese Heritage Trail

Cairns is the gateway to the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics rainforests. Amongst the early settlers of the region were many Chinese who came to Cairns and Cooktown in the mid-1870s, heading to the Hodgkinson goldfields, located west of Cairns and Cooktown.

After the alluvial gold ran out, many Chinese turned to farming. The Chinese were also involved in bêche de mer (sea cucumber) harvesting and processing. Picturesque Lizard Island, a short flight from Cairns, has stone remnants from these operations.

The Cairns and District Chinese Association holds annual Chinese New Year celebrations in Grafton Street - Cairns Chinatown - once a bustling assortment of shops, dwellings and two temples. Travel north from Cairns, via Port Douglas to Cooktown. Cooktown once had a large Chinese population, with a temple located on Adelaide Street. Temple artefacts are now displayed at the James Cook Historical Museum, while the cemetery includes a Chinese shrine.

The Atherton Tableland circuit will take you to the Hou Wang in Atherton, through farmlands where the Chinese grew maize and down to Innisfail where the Chinese worked in the sugar and banana industries and where you can see the Lit Sing Gung Temple.

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Continue to explore the beauty of the Atherton Tableland. The towns of Malanda and Millaa Millaa both have scenic waterfalls. Descend the range through the thick rainforest towards Innisfail. Pull over at Crawford's Lookout with commanding views of the steep ravine of the Johnstone River on your left. Both Chinese and European prospectors were busy panning for gold here in 1884.

Leaving the forest, the land cleared by Chinese workers in the 1880s-90s is now cultivated with tea and bananas. Cane is grown on the flat land towards Innisfail. Chinese were employed on sugar plantations to the east of Innisfail. Innisfail evolved from a sugar plantation, established by James Fitzgerald in 1880. The Chinese community soon began growing bananas and small crops to supply the new settlement. Boats were built locally in traditional Chinese style and ferried bananas to ships anchored near the town.

The cyclone of March 1918 destroyed most buildings in Innisfail. The town rebuilt in brick or concrete in the architectural style of the time and Innisfail now claims to be the Art Deco capital of Australia. The Lit Sing Gung Chinese temple was damaged and repaired before a new concrete building opened in 1941

Lizard Island is situated north east of Cooktown. You can take a one hour flight from Cairns as a day trip, with amazing views of the Great Barrier Reef. Better still; plan a longer stay at the exclusive resort, or camp at Watsons Bay. Snorkel the reefs or explore the island on foot. Delve into the rainforest, or relax on the beach. A short walk inland from Watson's Bay will bring you to the stone ruins of the bêche-de-mer operations.

Reflect on Captain James Cook's opinion of the island when he sheltered here in August 1770: 'There is, perhaps, not a better place on the whole coast....to refresh at than this Island. Climb Cook's Lookout and imagine searching for a passage through the reef to the east.'

Cairns is a beautiful tropical city tucked into the foothills of the Atherton Tableland. The Flecker Botanic Gardens are located on a site once occupied by Chinese market gardeners. A Chinese Friendship Garden has been created at Freshwater Lakes in the Cairns Botanic Garden precinct acknowledging Cairns' sister city relationship with Zhanjiang in the Guangdong Province from where many North Queensland Chinese migrated.

The McLeod Street Pioneer Cemetery has a section of unmarked Chinese burials. The interpretation panels in the rotunda assist in site identification.

Cairns Chinatown in the Central Business District was once a bustling street of shops and businesses, bounded by Sheridan, Shields, Spence and Lake streets, with Sachs (now Grafton) Street in the centre. Residents belonged to different cultural districts from Guangdong province in Southern China. Each group built a temple on either side of Sachs Street.

The Earlville Shopping Centre to the south of Cairns was the site of the Hap Wah plantation, the first in the Cairns district to produce both cotton and sugar. The Hap Wah (joint venture) Company established with 80 Hong Kong investors, employed 60 Chinese workers. The plantation also produced rice. The shopping centre displays a commemorative plaque to the plantation.

The Cairns to Cooktown route travels by the Cook Highway through to Port Douglas, and the Mulligan Highway to Cooktown. The Cook Highway to Port Douglas passes through forest and sandy coves until it reaches the Mowbray River. Travel through the cane fields to Port Douglas Road. The Chinese used to grow rice, maize and bananas here.

Depart Port Douglas, calling in at Mossman Gorge. Continue to Cooktown, where Captain Cook repaired the HMS Endeavour in 1770. Sections of the Cooktown Botanic Gardens were originally occupied by Chinese market gardeners. Cooktown was the port for the Palmer River goldfields in the early 1870s. The Hop Kee Company was landing around a thousand Chinese miners a month at this time. The Chinese community occupied the block bounded by Adelaide, Furneaux, Charlotte and Walker streets. Their temple faced the sea across Adelaide Street. The temple is no longer there, but temple artefacts are housed at James Cook Museum.

At the northern end of the Esplanade, pause at Cooktown's Chinese Monument acknowledging the contribution made by Chinese miners and market gardeners. The Cooktown Cemetery contains numerous Chinese graves and a shrine.

Depart Cairns, travelling north through Smithfield towards the Tablelands, and enjoy the panoramic coastal views en-route to Kuranda. If you have a spare day, the Kuranda Railway is a spectacular option, returning to Cairns on the Skyrail.

The Atherton Tablelands were opened up by timber getters and tin miners. Landowners employed Chinese to clear the land, later leasing property to them for cultivation.

A short detour via Kairi will take you past the maize silos. The Chinese initiated the maize and peanut industries here, although they were later displaced to provide land for returned WWI soldiers to farm.

The town of Atherton still retains Chinese shops, such as Jue Sue's next to the Grand Hotel. Just south of the town are remarkable remnants of Chinese occupation, including the Hou Wang Temple and the Chinese Museum. A Chinese museum is housed in the old Atherton Post Office, relocated to the entrance of the former Chinatown site.

The Atherton Tableland is a food lovers' haven offering a range of local products, while local artisans produce hand crafted timber products, paintings and jewellery.

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